Pubdate: Fri, 01 Sep 2006
Source: Saskatchewan Sage (CN SN)
Copyright: 2006 Aboriginal Multi-Media Society
Contact:  http://www.ammsa.com/sage/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4273
Author: Cheryl Petten, Birchbark Writer, Toronto
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

AIDS EPIDEMIC AMONG ABORIGINAL PEOPLE

Since it was first identified 25 years ago, acquired immune deficiency 
syndrome, or AIDS, has claimed the lives of around 25 million people 
worldwide. And, each day, an estimated 8,000 people are added to the list 
of the dead.

 From Aug. 13 to 18, scientists, educators, policy makers, service 
organizers, community leaders and people living with AIDS and the human 
immunodeficiency virus (HIV, the virus that causes AIDS) from around the 
world came together in Toronto to take part in the 16th International AIDS 
Conference. Held every two years, the conference provides a forum for the 
sharing of information about HIV/AIDS and what is being done to address 
this global pandemic.

Kevin Barlow was one of the participants attending the conference. As 
executive director of the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network Inc., one of the 
reasons Barlow took part in the conference was to remind policy-makers that 
the AIDS epidemic isn't just happening in Third World countries, it's 
happening in this country as well.

"It's important to look at issues like Africa and what's going on in 
developing countries, but you know, one of the messages we wanted to drive 
home was that here within Canada we still have an epidemic that's not under 
control yet, certainly in the Aboriginal population," he said.

The rate of HIV/AIDS infection among Aboriginal people in Canada is 
estimated to be three times higher than among the general population. It's 
also estimated that, on average, one more Aboriginal person becomes 
infected each and every day.

Current estimates put the number of Aboriginal people in Canada infected 
with HIV/AIDS at somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000, Barlow said. One reason 
for the huge range is that some provinces don't collect ethnic information 
on HIV positive test reports. Another is that fewer Aboriginal people are 
getting tested.

One of the factors contributing to the high infection rate among Aboriginal 
people in Canada is that, until recently, very little in the way of 
government funding for AIDS organizations was making its way to the 
Aboriginal community.

"In other words, when you don't invest in prevention work, then you get 
infections," Barlow said. "We were sounding these alarms years ago but 
there was no response. And then, finally, once they started seeing the 
numbers, that's when they started making changes."

Even now, the funding that is received for HIV/AIDS programs within the 
Aboriginal community is tenuous, at best. Barlow pointed to two Aboriginal 
AIDS service organizations in Manitoba that had to close their doors 
recently when the federal Conservative government cut their funding.

"So here we are, listed as one of the target populations in the HIV/AIDS 
strategy, but yet we're facing closure of some of our member groups. So 
obviously we're getting mixed messages from the government on whether we're 
a priority or not."

The high infection rate among Aboriginal people is also a result of the 
social and economic problems that exist within many Indigenous communities.

"Basically those determinants of health that are compromised in the 
Aboriginal community, like lower education levels, housing issues, social 
factors and influences like residential schooling,"

Kevin Barlow said. "So that's why some people, when they experience really 
traumatic events like physical and sexual abuse in residential schools, 
they grow up to be wounded people and sometimes turn to alcohol and drugs 
to cope."

Injecting drug use accounts for about two-thirds of new HIV infections, 
largely because of the practice of needle sharing, Barlow said.

"If one person is positive and they share that needle with three, four or 
five people, then the numbers grow that rapidly."

Canada isn't alone when it comes to having a disproportionate number of its 
Aboriginal people infected with HIV/AIDS. The situation is similar in 
countries across the globe.

A handful of conference sessions were dedicated to discussion of the 
HIV/AIDS epidemic within Indigenous populations, with presenters from 
Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Chad, India, 
Australia and New Zealand, taking part, but more has to be done to ensure 
the Aboriginal voice continues to be heard. With that goal in mind, CAAN 
has begun preparing for the next conference in Mexico in 2008, Barlow said.

"Our organization has formed an international Indigenous HIV/AIDS 
secretariat and we're going to be working to make sure that in future 
international conferences Indigenous issues are at the forefront and that 
we continue to be on the agenda."
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D